ASU defense takes down Washington wide receiver John Ross during the game against Washington on Oct. 25. ASU defeated Washington 24-10. (Photo by Andrew Ybanez)SEATTLE — Exactly one month ago, the ASU football defense surrendered 62 points in an embarrassing home loss to the UCLA Bruins. Pretty hard to remember now, right?
The Sun Devils, for the second straight game, put on a defensive showcase. After holding Stanford to 10 points last week, ASU's defense didn't even give up a touchdown to Washington.
ASU continued to use its bigger defensive package against a run-happy Husky offense. Once again, the Devilbacker was rarely seen, and instead redshirt juniors Mo Latu and Demetrius Cherry got their second starts on the defensive line. The Huskies still managed to run for 151 yards, but they came on 46 carries for an average of just 3.3 yards.
The Sun Devils forced first-time starter redshirt freshman Troy Williams to throw the ball, and he wasn't able to beat the Sun Devils. ASU forced two interceptions — matching its season total — and another fumble near the goal line.
Last week was a surprising change of pace for the defense. This week, it clicked again. And it felt right.
The Sun Devil defense has quickly gone from being much maligned and possibly holding ASU back from its lofty goals to being a strong point that has held its last two opponents to 13 total points (with seven more coming from a UW pick-six).
"I'm just really proud of these kids," ASU coach Todd Graham said. "They've had to listen all year long about how we're inexperienced and how great everybody else is and how crappy we are. I'm really excited for them that they're playing the caliber that they are."
And he should be. Although the last two games, the Sun Devils have faced two teams that rely on their defenses, each team was still held well below its scoring average. The turn around is coming at just the right time. ASU will battle No. 19 Utah for first-place in the Pac-12 South on Nov. 1, continuing a gauntlet of games against top-25 or near-top-25 teams.
If he could have it another way, Graham would have liked to have some more games to prepare for the tough ones his team has had the last four weeks. But despite having some growing pains, the defense is coming together stronger than it could have playing easier opponents.
"It can be so hard to adapt to your guys," Graham said. "And you can adapt or die. I think we've adapted to them."
Guys like redshirt junior Jordan Simone and redshirt sophomore Laiu Moeakiola have been playing well all season. But they've now become leaders, and other defenders have stepped up and joined them at their level.
"Something clicked," Simone said. "We are going 110 percent balls-to-the-wall. I am loving what our defense is."
Nobody quite knew what the defense was at the start of the season. It had lost nine starters from a dominating force from the season before. Who was going to step up? How were they going to match the production from Carl Bradford, Will Sutton and Alden Darby? It turns out, it just took some time.
The Sun Devil defense isn't the traditional Graham-style one from years past. It doesn't have that natural pass-rusher on it. Instead, it's a team effort to get enough pressure, while providing enough coverage to be effective. It's more run-focused now, and that's its identity. Big on the line. Flexible in the middle. Fast in the backend.
It's not perfect, but it's far better than anyone expected, especially after Sept. 25.
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
